Four Ways to Make a Move More Stressful

July 25, 2014

I’m currently in the process of boxing up my life and preparing for phase 1 of moving beginning on Saturday. Phase 1? Yes. We’re doing a two, perhaps three, phase approach to moving. Because if there’s one thing I recognize now, it’s that I have A LOT of stuff. Even more than I did when I moved in two years ago.

Here are five ways to make your move more stressful.

1. Not have a place to move to.

I like to have a stable place to call home. So when the time came to decide to pack up and move out, I got into a panic. Where do I want to live? How long do I want to say? Do I want to buy a house or just continue to rent? Will I find a guy to marry?

I looked for two months. Literally, checked out homes to buy and places to rent. I was dead set on a very specific place and nothing ever happened. I didn’t like things or it didn’t feel right. Whatever.

So, a couple of Saturdays ago, I saw an apartment in my price range in the location I desired. I called, got an appointment, checked it out and signed a lease. Suddenly, I went from trying to figure out where to live to having a place.

2. Buy hundreds of boxes and start packing.

From the moment my roommate moved out a month ago, I knew that I needed to start looking. I also realized that it would be easier to just pack everything up and take inventory of what I had. That’s when I realized I had a lot of stuff.

My dining area is now covered in boxes. I’m pretty sure that just looking at it makes me never want to move EVER again.

The other fact is, that of all the stuff that is boxed, I’ve only gone through the boxes twice since I boxed them up three weeks ago. And both of those times were to find books to loan to friends. This tells me that maybe I don’t need everything that I own. But now I don’t want to go through EVERYTHING again to decide what I really do need and what I don’t. So I’ll do it when I unpack.

3. Be sentimental.

I blame my mother for this. I have plenty of keepsakes of memories. And they all must be kept. Next to my laptop is a fake Hawaiian lei from my mission in Spain. I’m keeping it because I’m pretty sure that one day I will get around to working on my mission scrapbook. Sending items to Deseret Industries is probably the most difficult thing. In fact, using the black bags to store the items to be donated works well because I just don’t look through them again. I accept that once I put it in there, it’s over and done.

I’ll admit I cried the day I had to take my mission coat to DI. It was just so sad to have to part.

4. Be Prideful.

Then there’s the fact of just moving things. I consider myself a pretty tough girl. I grew up with a fair number of brothers and I learned to carry my own weight. I struggle to ask for help. But I have a lot of stuff (I don’t think I can reiterate this enough).

So the phased approach allows me the Saturday to move all the items that I know I can move — the small boxes, the little appliances, etc.

Phase 2 is when I call in my friends to help load the U-Haul truck with the larger pieces of furniture and then help me unload at the new place. It hurts my pride to have to ask. But it’s good for me to have that little bit of hurt. Keeps me humble.

But beyond that, I’ve asked a few of my friends to help me decorate my apartment so that it’s not so random. I’m now having to admit that I don’t decorate. But it’s okay. My new place will be better for it. And my back will be grateful for the help in moving.

So, good luck finding a new place and moving. I promise it won’t be as stressful as you think.